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Japanese Box Office, July 26–27: Ponyo Keeps Top Spot (Updated)

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (pictured at right), Hayao Miyazaki's first feature film in nearly four years, remained perched on top for a second time at the Japanese box office during the July 26-27 weekend. Kunihiko Yuyama's Pocket Monsters Diamond & Pearl: Giratina to Sora no Hanataba Shaymin, the Pokémon franchise's 11th feature film, stayed at #2. The two anime films kept their momentum despite the openings of M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (#3 with 280 million yen or about US$2.6 million), Mark Osborne and John Stevenson's Kung Fu Panda (#5 with 220 million yen or US$2 million), and Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom (#6 with 150 million yen or US$1.4 million).

Boys Over Flowers: Final (Hana Yori Dango Final), Yasuharu Ishii's live-action film finale based on Yōko Kamio's Boys Over Flowers (Hana Yori Dango) romantic comedy manga, fell from #3 to #4 in its fifth weekend. Over that weekend, it became the first film this year to earn over 5 billion yen (US$46 million) in Japan by grossing 5.45 billion yen (US$50.4 million). It has earned more in Japan than Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (#7 with 4.94 billion yen gross-to-date or US$45.8 million), even though Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opened one week earlier.

GeGeGe no Kitarō: Sennen Noroi Uta (GeGeGe no Kitarō : The Thousand-Year-Curse Song), the live-action film sequel based on Shigeru Mizuki's supernatural manga, dropped from #5 to #8 in its third week. Soreike! Anpanman: Yōsei Rinrin no Himitsu, the latest entry in the anime franchise based on Takashi Yanase's pastry-faced hero, fell from #8 off the top-10 chart in its second week. The Wachowski Brothers' live-action adaptation of the Speed Racer anime also fell from #9 off the chart in its fourth week.

Source: Kogyo Tsushinsha, Variety Japan

Image © 2008 Nibariki, GNDHDDT

Update: See this link for the links to past and future box office results.